The BBC will soon deliver an Android app that allows users to watch its content on-demand or as it happens. Launching this week, the iPlayer app will provide the entire BBC catalogue of “catch-up programs” and on-demand playing of TV or radio shows released in the past 7 days.

Don’t get too excited just yet because only high-powered Android devices will be able to use the app. BBC’s Daniel Danker confesses that iPlayer will require Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash 10.1 to be installed, two features that a rather large portion of Android users in the United Kingdom do not have. Moreover, the app will work only on a Wi-Fi connection. This is done for “technical reasons” despite the non-Flash requirement available to iPad users.

According to The Telegraph, there will be no licensing authentication necessary to use the BBC iPlayer app. The app is expected to launch for free to UK residents tomorrow or Friday.